“This is the best time of year in college baseball. Period,” the Missouri State University head coach said. “For players and anybody else associated with the sport, this is what it’s all about. The players are done with school, the weather has finally warmed up, we’re playing in great facilities and we’re in an extremely competitive situation.

“It doesn’t get any better ... .”

Fresh off an inspired run to the Missouri Valley Conference tournament title last week on their home field in Springfield, Missouri, the Bears (30-27) will make their 12th NCAA Division I Regional appearance this weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Missouri State will square off with seventh-seeded Oklahoma State (39-20) in the first round at 6 p.m. Friday. Arkansas (38-18) and Grand Canyon (41-19) open the tournament at noon Friday.

The double-elimination event will continue with two games each on Saturday and Sunday. The if-needed game will be played at 6 p.m. Monday.

This weekend’s winner will move on to the best-of-three Super Regionals June 10-13. The eight Super Regional winners will advance to the College World Series, June 17-27 in Omaha, Nebraska.

Oklahoma State is coached by Josh Holliday, whose staff includes a pair of former big-league legends — his brother and former Cardinal standout Matt Holliday is a volunteer assistant, while ex-Chicago White Sox star Robin Ventura is back with his college program as a student assistant.

Oklahoma State beat Missouri State 5-1 on March 8 in Stillwater. The Bears beat Arkansas 6-4 on May 3 in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and have never played Grand Canyon.

Missouri State won NCAA regional titles in 2003, 2015 and 2017. In 2003, the Bears earned a trip to the College World Series.

“There’s no reason to play unless you feel like you can win,” said Guttin, a University City High product who ranks third among active college baseball coaches and 16th overall with 1,339 career wins. “We had our ups and downs this season, but we finally got our positional players healthy and our starting pitching, which had been inconsistent throughout the season, got better.

“We played our best week of baseball last week, and the goal now is to keep it going.”

The Bears finished the regular season at 25-26 and were seeded sixth going into the MVC Tournament. In an elimination game delayed and eventually pushed back by rain, Missouri State eliminated Illinois State 9-4. The Bears then knocked off top-seeded Southern Illinois 5-1 on a complete game from Forrest Barnes and a two-homer, four-RBI game from Mason Hull.

In a 19-3 blowout of Bradley, Missouri State blasted five home runs in a game for the fifth time this season. Grant Wood hit a grand slam and finished the seven-inning contest with six RBIs. The Bears then knocked off second-seeded Evansville 7-6 on Saturday to earn a spot in the tourney championship.

SIU then made things interesting with a 9-6 win over Missouri State to force a winner-take-all game. There, the host squad picked up its fifth MVC tournament title with a 13-3 triumph. Mason Greer was named tournament MVP after hitting .384 with 10 hits (two homers), nine runs scored and eight RBIs during Missouri State’s six-game tournament run.

Greer, who’s hitting .326 with nine homers and 51 RBIs this season, was joined on the all-tournament team by Wood, Drake Baldwin, Walker Jenkins, Cam Cratic and Riyan Rodriguez.

“Last week, seeing our guys enjoy the fruits of their labor, so to speak, was really special,” Guttin said. “An opportunity like this, to compete in the postseason, those are memories that will last a lifetime.”

Guttin added: “We’re heathier, position-wise, than we’ve been all season; as far as the pitching goes, I guess we’ll do the best we can to piece it together over the next few days.”

The Bears have been led all season by their captains: catcher Baldwin (.335, 16 homers, 60 RBIs) and second baseman Hull (.281, 14 HRs, 48 RBIs). Other top hitters include outfielder Spencer Nivens (.352, nine HRs, 48 RBIs), shortstop Jenkins (.336, six HRs, 19 RBIs, five SBs) and third baseman Wood (.311, seven HRs, 46 RBIs). Outfielder Dakota Kotowski leads the squad with 23 homers and has driven in 50.

On the mound, Missouri State relies on reliever Trey Ziegenbein (5-5) and starters Adam Link (6-5) and Barnes (6-5). Ty Buckner, a redshirt senior right-hander from Ladue who went 7-4 in 2018, is back after battling through multiple injuries during his career. Over seven games, including five starts, he’s thrown 13 1/3 innings and has yet to allow a run. He’s struck out 12, walked five and allowed six hits.

“As a true freshman, Ty was in our weekend rotation,” Guttin said. “He’s battled injuries since then, but to his credit, he’s stuck it out and has been a positive for us this season.”

Guttin also credited the contributions of two other St. Louis-area players: Sophomore reliever Eric Loomis (CBC) is 3-1 with a 3.93 ERA while freshman outfielder Hayden Moore (Edwardsville) has chipped in with eight RBIs and five steals.

“Eric has been as effective as anybody out of our bullpen, and Hayden stepped in and gave us some solid play when we were dealing with injuries,” the coach said.